Maniyanpilla Raju was born as Sudhir Kumar in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. He has four siblings

Maniyanpilla Raju started his movie career in movie Thiranottam. He is known by the screen name Maniyanpilla Raju. This was the name of the character he played in the film Maniyanpilla Adhava Maniyanpilla. He entered into film production too after producing the super hit move Vellanakalude Nadu.